HAMMOND, La. – The reigning
, two-time Southland Conference Champion Southeastern Louisiana University volleyball team rode the hot arm of
Hannah Brewer, who set multiple single match career highs, to a Southland Conference-opening sweep of the Lamar Cardinals 3-0 (25-11, 25-16, 25-22) Thursday night at the University Center.
Brewer scored career highs in points, 18, kills, 14, and aces, 4, to lead Southeastern (9-4, 1-0 SLC) on the night.
Cicily Hidago moved up the SLU career points scored list during the match, jumping into sixth-place after an 11-point night pushed her career total to 1,323.5 career points scored. She had nine kills, a service ace, and a solo block.
Kyra McKelvey joined Hidalgo with 11 points as well, contributing nine kills and four block assists on the evening.
The Lady Lions finished the night with 46 kills on 115 total attacks with 16 errors for a team .261 attack percentage in the match. SLU also put down seven service aces and had nine total blocks.
Lamar (8-5, 0-1 SLC) was in the negatives in both of the first two sets on the attack, but rallied in the third set to finish the night with 20 kills on 106 total attacks with 13 errors for a team .066 attack percentage. The Cardinals tallied one service ace and blocked back six SLU attacks for points.
Alexis Logarbo scored the match's first point with a kill, and Southeastern was off from there as the Lady Lions dominated the first set, jumping out to a 20-6 lead on another Logarbo kill. Lamar scored three of the next four to try and close the score, but a kill by Hidalgo and a block by McKelvey and
India Bennett made it 23-9 Lady Lions. After back-to-back Cardinal points, a kill by Brewer put SLU on set point which was immediately followed by a Lamar attack error to give Southeastern the set by a 25-11 score to go up 1-0 in the match.
Lamar opened the second set by scoring the first two points to take its first lead of the night, but that would not last long as a service error by the Cardinals kicked off a run of six-straight Southeastern points, giving SLU the lead for good in the set. That run included kills by Logarbo and
Keira Beverly, two of Brewer's service aces of the night, and a block by Beverly and Logarbo to end the run for a 6-2 Lady Lion lead.
The Cardinals wouldn't let Southeastern pull away like in the first set, however, responding with a run of their own which cut the deficit down to one point at 10-9. A block by Bennett and McKelvey was followed by an ace by
Lexi Gonzalez and another Brewer kill to push the advantage back out to 13-9.
Southeastern finally was able to open the lead late in the second set as, with SLU leading 17-15, a Cardinal serve missed the court to kick off a 5-0 Lady Lion run with Hidalgo getting her serve down after ticking the tape for an ace and a 22-15 SLU lead. A serve into the net only slowed things down for a moment for the Lady Lions as kills by Bennett, Brewer, and McKelvey meant Southeastern scored on eight of the final nine rallies to win the set 25-16 and go up 2-0 in the match.
Lamar battled to force a fourth set, taking an early 5-3 lead and kept Southeastern from getting into rhythm like it did in the opening two sets. SLU's first lead of the set came at 11-10 as McKelvey put down a kill, but it was fleeting as the Cardinals took the next two to reclaim the advantage before a kill by Hidalgo tied the score back up at 12-12.
That's where Lamar appeared to take control of the set, scoring the next five points to go up 17-12. The Lady Lions stepped up to the pressure of the late deficit, however, as a kill by Brewer started a 5-1 SLU run which Hidalgo capped with a kill to make it 18-17 Lamar. The Cardinals continued to answer as the two teams traded points over the next five rallies to hold a 21-19 lead.
Southeastern tied the set up at 21-21 off a kill by Logarbo and a double call against the Cardinals, but Lamar continued to push back in front, getting the next point to go up 22-21, and then scoring again after SLU had tied it back up to go in front again at 23-22.
The Lady Lions found the run it needed at the right moment as a kill by Brewer tied the score, an ace by
Lexi Gonzalez put the Lady Lions on match point, and the night's star ended it as Brewer scored her final kill to end the match with a 25-23 set score and a 3-0 match win.
Southeastern completes its conference-opening homestand on Saturday as Incarnate Word comes to Hammond, America to wrap up the first week of SLC play. Saturday's match against the UIW Cardinals (7-4, 0-1 SLC) is set for 12 p.m. in the University Center, and it'll be the annual Green Out match, so all fans are asked to wear their favorite green gear to the match. If you can't make it to the University Center, the match will be televised on ESPN+ with live stats also available at LionSports.net.
DIGGIN' IT CLUB / S CLUB
Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the Southeastern volleyball program are encouraged to join the Diggin' It Club. Lion volleyball alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letter winners.
All membership fees and donations to both the Diggin' It Club and S Club (volleyball) are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern volleyball program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at
laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or visiting
www.LionUp.com.
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Lady Lions Volleyball, follow @LionUpVB or @JWhiteSLU on Twitter, @LionUpVB on Instagram, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.
